Well, I suppose it's time I talk about IFS. I found it through friends on Maui. There is a website: www.selfleadership.org You will find lots of information there about it. My overview here will be brief and mostly about my own experience.
Richard Schwartz, the founder of IFS, maintains that IFS is about Self leadership(as opposed to being led by the self "ego"). It's another path of Enlightenment; and a good one. Btw... enlightenment is nothing more than healing the emotional baggage and being lighter in vibration. It's not a mystery and it's a path we must all follow ourselves. Basically, IFS teaches you a new way to see your self. To see the self for what it really is; a protector, a defense mechanism and our beloved. Through lots of different factors, most of our egos have taken on an over-active role in that protection. It's also our own "child" if you will... for where did it come from if not Love also. It's a child that needs and wants our Love; the Love that We Are. For me, it was kind of like, DUH! yeah! I finally understood what it REALLY meant to love my self! It wasn't about buying myself something material or finding someone that liked me or even doing nice things for my body like exercise and eating good food (which doesn't hurt and does help). No, it is about acknowledging my self when it communicates to me ie: a thought, thanking it for it's input and then making the decision with discernment whether or not I wanted to entertain that thought. A lot of times these thoughts don't feel good and we're taught to push away what doesn't feel good. That's like telling your kid, "go away, I don't want to deal with you right now". You know kids, if you do that, they just keep coming back with the same thing until you give them attention. You do it enough and they get angry at you because they are not getting a need met. They just want to be acknowledged. This process has also been dubbed, "parts work". As Richard sat one day, listening to a client, he noticed her talking about "parts" of herself. he started to ask her about them and discovered that she had many different parts of her self that all seemed to have different personalities and ways of thinking and also were often in conflict with each other. He categorized these different parts into 3 groups: Managers, Firefighters and Exiles. Exiles are the parts that have been traumatized and pushed away over and over and over again. It's as if a piece of us splinters off and gets "stuck" at the age trauma happens and doesn't "grow up" with the rest of us. Managers are responsible for keeping those parts in check and Firefighters are the one responsible for distracting the Exile with sex, food, drugs or any other sensational tool for calming the exile should it get "triggered". It (Firefighter) is often mislabeled as a saboteur. Our job, should we choose to accept it, is to get to know these parts and love them. Richard has worked for over 20 years to create this system of psychotherapy that it is today. I started out doing the process that is outlined in Jay Earley's book, "Self Therapy", and got amazing results very quickly. Just by doing something as simple as acknowledging my parts as they surfaced and thanking them for their service, they calmed down immediately and I notice that as I do this more and more, they get integrated back to my (larger) Self. I practice a few times in group but when it came time for me to leave Maui, I started practicing on my own and incorporated other "paths" like Ho'oponopono and Byron Katie's "work". Basically with BK's work, I tell myself that I don't have to believe the thought I'm having. With Ho'oponopono, I use that part that works for me; Thank You and I Love You. I continue to ask why I am feeling the way I am and I get a much faster response because I have been doing this work for 1.5 years now. My parts know that I have accepted them and I Love them. I know there are still parts that haven't come forward yet because I'm very aware of when I'm tempted to "self-sabotage". I changed how I'm doing the process, but I'm still practicing the essence of it; self Love. I don't push any feelings or thoughts away anymore; I deal with them head on or ask them to step aside and I'll meet with them later. I found out the hard way that if I forgot to do that, a part would get very angry or upset. Sometimes I would have to wait quite a while before that part would be ready to surface again. Richard recommends getting to know the Managers first because they are responsible for keeping the Exile safe and then asking permission to speak with the exile. I have found that I don't need to do that. I just deal with whatever comes up when it comes up. I rarely get triggered by anything or if I do, it's very subtle. I have notices, as I think most people do who are doing their "work" that issues will come up that I think I've dealt with and I have... it's another "layer" if you will, that's coming up for healing. Healing is happening in "layers" and rarely, if ever, do issues get healed with one round of whatever tool it is that we are using to do this. I'm able to do this work in the moment now but only if I am fully present. There are moments where I'm not fully present and I just have to do my best in the moment. So I'm not doing this all day long or even every day. I did so in the beginning, when I could be in the moment and remember to do it. It became second nature quickly. I have lots of days now where I don't get triggered at all and it just gets better and better. I'm really glad that I found this first before Vipassana because it helped with the major issues I still had. Vipassana is taking care of the more subtle layers. Just in the last few days, I have felt enormous peace and balance. I also know that the solar flares we have gotten in the last week or so have contributed greatly. I have followed so many different paths... it's hard to distinguish what works "better" or "more" than others. I'd have to say I've gotten more significant results from IFS and Vipassana alone. They are very different but both lead to the same conclusion...Liberation, Freedom, Peace and True Happiness from a defiled and hurt mind.
I recommend that if you are inspired to try Richards "work" that you start doing it the way he recommends first before you change anything to do it your own way. It is very helpful to study everything he offers to have a complete understanding of what it is you are doing. Patience is KEY. And know that no one will have the same experience of healing as another. It's best NOT to compare ourselves with each other so as to avoid getting discouraged with our practice and hence, stopping. Blessings to All and Godspeed to You! 💖😊
Richard Schwartz, the founder of IFS, maintains that IFS is about Self leadership(as opposed to being led by the self "ego"). It's another path of Enlightenment; and a good one. Btw... enlightenment is nothing more than healing the emotional baggage and being lighter in vibration. It's not a mystery and it's a path we must all follow ourselves. Basically, IFS teaches you a new way to see your self. To see the self for what it really is; a protector, a defense mechanism and our beloved. Through lots of different factors, most of our egos have taken on an over-active role in that protection. It's also our own "child" if you will... for where did it come from if not Love also. It's a child that needs and wants our Love; the Love that We Are. For me, it was kind of like, DUH! yeah! I finally understood what it REALLY meant to love my self! It wasn't about buying myself something material or finding someone that liked me or even doing nice things for my body like exercise and eating good food (which doesn't hurt and does help). No, it is about acknowledging my self when it communicates to me ie: a thought, thanking it for it's input and then making the decision with discernment whether or not I wanted to entertain that thought. A lot of times these thoughts don't feel good and we're taught to push away what doesn't feel good. That's like telling your kid, "go away, I don't want to deal with you right now". You know kids, if you do that, they just keep coming back with the same thing until you give them attention. You do it enough and they get angry at you because they are not getting a need met. They just want to be acknowledged. This process has also been dubbed, "parts work". As Richard sat one day, listening to a client, he noticed her talking about "parts" of herself. he started to ask her about them and discovered that she had many different parts of her self that all seemed to have different personalities and ways of thinking and also were often in conflict with each other. He categorized these different parts into 3 groups: Managers, Firefighters and Exiles. Exiles are the parts that have been traumatized and pushed away over and over and over again. It's as if a piece of us splinters off and gets "stuck" at the age trauma happens and doesn't "grow up" with the rest of us. Managers are responsible for keeping those parts in check and Firefighters are the one responsible for distracting the Exile with sex, food, drugs or any other sensational tool for calming the exile should it get "triggered". It (Firefighter) is often mislabeled as a saboteur. Our job, should we choose to accept it, is to get to know these parts and love them. Richard has worked for over 20 years to create this system of psychotherapy that it is today. I started out doing the process that is outlined in Jay Earley's book, "Self Therapy", and got amazing results very quickly. Just by doing something as simple as acknowledging my parts as they surfaced and thanking them for their service, they calmed down immediately and I notice that as I do this more and more, they get integrated back to my (larger) Self. I practice a few times in group but when it came time for me to leave Maui, I started practicing on my own and incorporated other "paths" like Ho'oponopono and Byron Katie's "work". Basically with BK's work, I tell myself that I don't have to believe the thought I'm having. With Ho'oponopono, I use that part that works for me; Thank You and I Love You. I continue to ask why I am feeling the way I am and I get a much faster response because I have been doing this work for 1.5 years now. My parts know that I have accepted them and I Love them. I know there are still parts that haven't come forward yet because I'm very aware of when I'm tempted to "self-sabotage". I changed how I'm doing the process, but I'm still practicing the essence of it; self Love. I don't push any feelings or thoughts away anymore; I deal with them head on or ask them to step aside and I'll meet with them later. I found out the hard way that if I forgot to do that, a part would get very angry or upset. Sometimes I would have to wait quite a while before that part would be ready to surface again. Richard recommends getting to know the Managers first because they are responsible for keeping the Exile safe and then asking permission to speak with the exile. I have found that I don't need to do that. I just deal with whatever comes up when it comes up. I rarely get triggered by anything or if I do, it's very subtle. I have notices, as I think most people do who are doing their "work" that issues will come up that I think I've dealt with and I have... it's another "layer" if you will, that's coming up for healing. Healing is happening in "layers" and rarely, if ever, do issues get healed with one round of whatever tool it is that we are using to do this. I'm able to do this work in the moment now but only if I am fully present. There are moments where I'm not fully present and I just have to do my best in the moment. So I'm not doing this all day long or even every day. I did so in the beginning, when I could be in the moment and remember to do it. It became second nature quickly. I have lots of days now where I don't get triggered at all and it just gets better and better. I'm really glad that I found this first before Vipassana because it helped with the major issues I still had. Vipassana is taking care of the more subtle layers. Just in the last few days, I have felt enormous peace and balance. I also know that the solar flares we have gotten in the last week or so have contributed greatly. I have followed so many different paths... it's hard to distinguish what works "better" or "more" than others. I'd have to say I've gotten more significant results from IFS and Vipassana alone. They are very different but both lead to the same conclusion...Liberation, Freedom, Peace and True Happiness from a defiled and hurt mind.
I recommend that if you are inspired to try Richards "work" that you start doing it the way he recommends first before you change anything to do it your own way. It is very helpful to study everything he offers to have a complete understanding of what it is you are doing. Patience is KEY. And know that no one will have the same experience of healing as another. It's best NOT to compare ourselves with each other so as to avoid getting discouraged with our practice and hence, stopping. Blessings to All and Godspeed to You! 💖😊
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